Horatio's Homosexuality

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play. Most of the characters in the play have selfish motives at heart. Lust, greed, pride, and revenge are just a few sins that are committed in the play. There are few instances within the play that show goodness and kindness. Hamlet has so many people around him trying to bring him down, but he had one friend that was loyal to him, and that was Horatio. The other key characters in the play were only out for their own good. However Horatio was looking out for Hamlet. Unfortunately, Horatio was the only one.

Horatio is a real friend because he remained faithful to Hamlet and never questioned his judgment. He had stayed true to Hamlet throughout the play while everybody else abandons his friendship. Hamlet describes Horatio he’s loyal fellow because of his level-headed and is grateful for everything in his life.

Hamlet's friend Horatio is a foil for him because he brings out the revenge and betrayal in Hamlet. He is a listener for Hamlet. Horatio seems to be the only one who is sympathetic of Hamlet concerning the death of his father and his mother's quick remarriage. He is very loyal to Hamlet. Horatio, through

We get more insight into Hamlet's mind after he meets the ghost of his father. He is speaking to his confidant and friend Horatio:

The bourgeois in the play criticize and demean others who they see as inferior. When Hamlet complements Horatio who is modest when accepting it, Hamlet tells him that he is not flattering him and asks, “Why should the poor be flatter’d?” (III.ii.55). He also says that there is nothing to gain from complimenting Horatio because he has nothing to give. This showcases how the wealthy value materialistic possessions and are okay with flattering others to get what they want. The bourgeois also use others to gain power. Claudius was willing to throw away his moral standards and kill his own brother for power. He does not allow anything to stand between him and the power that he wants. Claudius even knows that he does something that is dishonorable, but asks God if he can “be pardoned and retain the offence” (III.iii.59). Gertrude also tries to keep her status throughout the

The relationship that Hamlet has with Horatio is one of trust where Hamlet acts normal. Hamlet says, "I must be idle." (III. ii. 85.) This quote shows Hamlet telling Horatio that he is going to pretend to be insane. He tells Horatio about watching Claudius for signs of guilt and says, "Give him heedful note, for I mine eyes will rivet his face, and, after, we will both our judgments join in censure of his seeming (3.2.87)." A crazy person will

Of Horatio we know best that what distinguishes him from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and indeed from Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, and Gertrude, is that Claudius cannot use him. Critics have remarked upon Horatio’s ambiguously shifting status at the court of Denmark, and the late William Empson confessed a certain irritation at Hamlet’s discovery of virtues in Horatio that the prince could not find in himself. Yet Shakespeare gives us a Hamlet we must love while knowing our inferiority, since he has the qualities we lack, and so he also gives us Horatio, our representative, who loves so stoically for the rest of us. Horatio is loyal, and limited; skeptical as befits a fellow student of the profoundly skeptical Hamlet, yet never skeptical about Hamlet. Take Horatio out of the play, and you take us out of the play. The plot could be rearranged to spare the wretched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, even to spare Laertes, let alone Fortinbras, but remove Horatio, and Hamlet becomes so estranged from us that we scarcely can hope to account for that universality of appeal which is his, and the play’s, most original characteristic. (5)

Hamlet was a unique individual with many different personalities. We see one of these personalities when he “puts an antic disposition on” (I.v.192) to fool Claudius and his mother. Hamlet uses this to convince Horatio and Marcellus to never bring up what actually

Before examining Horatio and Hamlets friendship, it is important to look at Horatio as a character, if only to see why he offers such good companionship to Hamlet. From the very beginning of the play, Horatio is portrayed as being part of the old regime, meaning he was loyal to the old King Hamlet and does not necessarily works of the new king and the way he acquired the throne. It is understood that Hamlet and Horatio were not old friends but they at least have known of each other and were amicable because of their close relationship to the old King. (Evans 7) Horatio is characterized as being someone that would never break a loyalty no matter what was offered to him and that is why he can never be a close friend to King Claudius and possibly why he offers Hamlet his friendship regardless of how he is acting throughout the play. (Lucking 4) Hamlet and Horatio may share similar interests in that they both disapprove of what is going on and feel like it is a disgrace to the dead king Hamlet and all that he has worked for and stood for. (Doubt 7) Sharing all of these common feelings towards everything is what defines a friendship in the first place. Another possible reason why Hamlet feels inclined to trust Horatio is that he is the only one that still showed support to Hamlet and felt for him

Hamlet’s sexual deviancy is a defining characteristic of Hamlet, and is an often talked about topic when discussing the play. Hamlet is engrossed in people’s sex lives, whether it is his mother, Gertrude, or his ex-girlfriend, Ophelia. Hamlet’s general distrust and disgust with women makes him a misogynist. Hamlet seems mad that his mother, Gertrude, moved on so quickly to Claudius seeing as it had only been two months since her first husband, Hamlet Sr. died. This seems like a logical response, however Hamlet keeps bringing it up. So much so, that his father’s ghost even says "Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive / Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven." (1.5.9) Hamlet shows sign of jealousy toward Claudius as if he is the one who wants to be with his mother, because of this Hamlet

In contrast to Horatio’s continual loyalty to Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s childhood friends obtained a false friendship. Instead of caring about the well being of others and what was happening with Hamlet, they were more concerned about their own interest and how to benefit themselves more than anything. With Claudius’s bribery and opportunities, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern strove for benefit and praise. To be able to get all the promised royal advancements, it involves for the gentlemen to have to show complete allegiance to Claudius and turn against Hamlet. It had been accomplished by spying on Hamlet and the attempt to get pieces of evidence that promoted his craziness. However, Hamlet figures out about their betrayal and the artificial friendship. This prevents any information to be released to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as achieved by the dedicated Horatio who has proven the dedication. The idea is noticed when Hamlet says, “If you love me, hold not off” (2.2.214). By saying this, it means that if there is any care about the relationship, honesty would be told no matter the aftereffect. The selfishness of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had broken Hamlet’s confidence, and resulting in not being able to get the evidence for Claudius. When Rosencrantz

Shakespeare accurately shows the political and social statuses of the day in Hamlet, and accurately demonstrates the ideas of Karl Marx through Hamlet. Marxist ideas demonstrate that society that is dependent on a class system will lead to a struggle between the classes and inevitably lead to revolution. In Hamlet, Shakespeare accurately shows the inner struggles of a class system through the wide variety of characters. The main characters span from the high class and royal family all the way down to the lowest class and the gravediggers. Through the interactions between the characters, it is easy to see the oppressions given to the lower class by the upper class. The result of this, as seen in the final scene of the play, does not end well for the upper class. In this scene, all the royal family, as well as Ophelia’s family, end up dead. The fact that the only one to survive is Horatio also perhaps shows some insight to the class struggle to the end. Horatio is the only one of the main characters to not be of the same social status, yet is the one who lives to tell the story to Fortinbras. He also is shown to be the one that remains honest and true throughout the

     Horatio’s most important role as a foil does not become evident until the end of the play. His conversation with Hamlet just before the fatal duel with Laertes provides us with an insight into Hamlet’s state of mind. Horatio advises Hamlet to back down if he does not like the circumstances, and Horatio will attest to Hamlet’s

Love is one of the most powerful themes in Hamlet, but a superior force - REVENGE, drives Hamlet's love. Revenge of his father's murder. Hamlet is confused and melancholic over the fact that his mother married his own uncle and so quickly after his father's death. Even though he does not immediately suspect foul play in his father's untimely death, he is in a state of shock. As Kenneth Muir states, "He (Hamlet) is profoundly shocked by Gertrude's marriage to his uncle in less than two months after her first husband's death, although he has no conscious suspicion that his father has been murdered or that his mother had committed adultery." The ghost scene seems to fuel Hamlet's

Without Horatio, there is no one to give truth to Hamlet's words. Horatio bears witness to the ghost: “Look, my lord, it comes” (I. iv. 38), giving credence to Hamlet’s later claims that he has seen the ghost of his father. When Hamlet is forcing the guards to swear an oath, it is to Horatio that he tells of his plan “to put an antic disposition on” (I. v. 172). If this scene did not occur as it did, with Hamlet informing someone of his actions, then Hamlet's sanity would be questioned from the very beginning of the play. After all, if there is no one else to confirm the facts, who can say that Hamlet truly loses his sanity in Act I, and then his "act" is not an act at all?